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Tuesday, 19 August 2014

Getting into the routine

With the pattern making, I'm pretty much managing my health issues and my time. Which is a good thing, as I love doing this. I wish I could turn it into a full time job. I loved being self-employed in the past - I don't play well with others. Not because I'm mean, or a psycho, or a general hooligan; it's just that the kind of agoraphobia and anxiety I live with is borne of a kind of a social phobia. I'm good with one on one, or with about three people at one time, but I tend to fall apart pretty fast in a whole roomful of people, or even a half-busy shop.

Making dolly things my proper source of income is a wild dream for me.. but any doll artist will tell you it's very hard to get rich from it. Not that I want to be rich - just to be able to make a small living out of something that I not only enjoy, but that won't make me mentally and physically ill.

But now I've babbled. Heh.

So yes, I'm managing to spend half my day sewing and photographing, then the next half uploading, editing pics and writing up my tutorial documents. Then in the evenings I hang out with my homies and read a lot. Or I play with my dolls and take more pics just for my own entertainment.

I'm really excited about my next pattern. So excited in fact, I broke my rule of taking a break between patterns. I'll take a double break when I've finished this. :)

I'm keeping it under my hat until I publish, but I will say I'm using some exquisite Pakistani cotton lawn which I've hand dyed a really lovey mauve. Hand dyeing is so much fun, I need a hot day and a clear run in the shared kitchen though, so I can't do it that often, and my hand-dyed pieces of stash become precious.

And so far my workdesk has remained relatively organised. I'm longing to re-decorate my little room, and get some colour coordinated storage and desky-bits, but now the rainy weather has set in, I'll probably wait until next summer to paint.

And that's it for the last couple of days.

I always get stuck for anything interesting to stick in the old blog when I'm working on a pattern, but here's an old project I found on my hard drive. One of my first ever OOAK dolls. She's an Obitsu I sold several years back now. I did the face-up, made the wig out of natural mohair, made the clothes, bag and the boots too. Even the hair slide. Some of those Obitsus are so purty and they're fantastically poseable. I was really proud of this one...

... not so much the terrible photography though. I've definitely improved in that area.

4 comments
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Loving the hand dyed fabric... but then I'm a big fan of hand dyed - something I really must try sometime...looking forward to seeing the finished pattern....it looks like it might be Ello sized ... ooh.....your desk is very tidy.... I struggle to do tidy... but then it's just me so it doesn't really matter!! I totally get the issue with many people at once... I'm much happier with small groups of people... too many and I just clam up... good job I like my own company lol!!

It's fun, I recommend Handprinted.net for supplies. they're much better value than the teeshirt dyeing kits you get in shops: http://www.handprinted.net/product/221/25 lol! It's a mess now I'm typing this.

Yes, I just need to get out if a place is too busy, even if there's a few too many visitors in the lounge. I think liking your own company is a boon. :)

Be careful what you wish for. Sewing turned from a hobby into my only source of income and frankly there are times I really hate it now :( I`ve always been happier with my own company! I`m afraid I`ve fostered my antisocial inclinations to the point I don`t even go on FB or anything like that - there just isn`t many people I actually want to hang out with even online, lol :)

I've been there, Anj, back in my Cardiff days, having to sew so we could eat. This is why I thought of publishing the patterns. It's labour intensive, but repeats are possible and no expensive items to get lost in the post! It's a bit niche though, to make a living from, but at least when I have a break, the patterns are there for people to buy long-term.

Me too, I like to be alone, but luckily I have such great housemates that I can go and chat with them when I'm feeling a bit lonely.